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A Girl
The First Dream The water rushed up out of the spout and cascaded into the stained tub. A little girl stood shivering on the tile waiting for it to fill. A man knocked on the door. “Are you alright, Claudy?” he asked. “Yes, Daddy,” she replied. Her father was always nervous ever since Mimi died. “Do you need Mommy to come and sit with you?” he pressed. “No,” Claudette said. She turned off the water and stepped in the warm water. Her father walked away. Claudette splashed the water for awhile. When she finished bathing she laid back and closed her eyes. When Claudette opened her eyes again she saw a man in front of her. “Hello,” she said, her voice sounded strange. “who are you?” The man just smiled and beckoned to her. Claudette felt her body follow him. He led her towards a blue box. Just as she was about to step into the strange box she was jolted out of her dream. “Reveillez-vous! Etes-vous d’accord? Reveillez-vous!” Her mother screamed, shaking her daughter. Claudette coughed the water from her lungs. “Je vais bien,” she muttered. Her father burst into the bathroom. “What happened? Ce qui s’est passe?” He yelled. “I fell asleep; I’m fine,” Claudette said. “I need a towel; serviette, mama.” Her mother wrapped her in the towel. Her father stood, panic still in his eyes. “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked. “Oui, a man was there,” she said, “he kept me safe.” “Claud, se lever, wake up or you'll be late,” a sweet voice said. Claudette groaned. “Why don't you join me, my sweet Mae,” Claudette said, pulling Mae onto her. Mae giggled. “Arretez, nous ne pouvons pas,” Mae said, “I have work and so do you.” She pulled Claud up out of bed. “Have you taken your estrogen?” Claudette asked. “Oui. Now what should I wear?” Mae held up a mini skirt and dress. “Nothing,” Claud mumbled as she disappeared into the bathroom. She reappeared with a toothbrush in her mouth. “I like the dress, meme que tu.” Mae smiled and stepped into the dress. They both went to the bathroom. Claud rinsed her toothbrush. “Did you have the dream again?” Mae asked while looking closely at her chin in the mirror. “Oui,” Claud answered. “Same as always.” “Should I shave?” Mae asked. Claud traced her chin with her finger. “Smoothest chin I have ever seen, mon amour,” She kissed Mae. “Now I have to go to work.” Claud pulled on sweatpants and walked through their small cottage to her ‘study’ which was really a desk in the corner of the living room. She took her notebook from a drawer and started writing. Claud became so consumed in her stories that she did not notice when Mae set a cup of coffee on her desk and kissed her forehead before she led. Claud wrote for hours; hardly taking breaks. Around four pm she started to drift off. She nodded off still writing. Like so many times before she saw the man beckoning to her. Again her body was pulled towards the man. He led her to the boat. Once again she awoke before making it onto the boat. Claud sat for a minute before returning her eyes to her notebook. She stared bewildered at the words now on the paper: Find Me. Claud threw the notebook across the room. “Who are you!?” She screamed at the empty cottage. Nothing came in reply. Claud got up and left the house; running down the dirt path towards the nearby village. She ran into the ville but did not stop until she was too tired to go on. She was in front of the Poets’ Cafe; she entered. “Elderberry wine and oysters,” Claud told the man behind the bar. He placed the full bottle, glass and oysters in front of her. She pushed the glass aside and drank straight from the bottle. “You're either an alcoholic or it’s been a bad day,” a welsh accent said. Claud turned and saw a pretty woman. “Bad day,” Claud replied, a little embarrassed. “Do you need someone to talk to?” the woman asked. Claud smiled, finally someone who wanted to listen. “I want to find a man, a certain man, but I don’t know his name or where he is from,” she told the stranger. “Do you know anything about him?” the woman asked. “He has a blue box that says Police Call Box on it,” Claud said. The woman was taken back. “Did you say ‘blue box’?” The woman stammered in disbelief. “Yeah, but for all I know he could be dead.” Claud said. The woman became very serious. “Alright, I need you to listen very closely. If you want to find this man you will have to follow my instructions.” The woman commanded. “You are going to pack a bag and go to Wales, yes in the UK. You will go to Cardiff and walk around the bay until someone comes up to you. They will ask you a question, the question does not matter as much as the answer does. When they ask you the question you will say ‘Only when he is needed.’ Got it?” Claud sat for a second, stunned; when she snapped back to reality she nodded. The woman got up to leave. “Fantastic, my name is Gwen Cooper,” she said, “If all goes well I will see you again.” With that she left. Claud was still shocked. What the hell was that? Why Cardiff? Did the man really exist? What would Mae say? Claud paid and went home. Claud sat in the dark of the living room, waiting and thinking; a bag by her feet. When Mae came home she was in a great mood, and went into the kitchen to fix a drink. “The funniest thing happened at work today, babe,” Mae said; she went into a long story involving a monkey and a mango. “Isn’t that hilarious?” “Oui,” Claud had not been listening. Mae walked into the living room holding a martini. “Why are you sitting in the dark, cheri?” Mae’s foot hit Claud’s notebook. She picked up; reading the last page. “What’s wrong?” Mae crossed to Claud and knelt next to her. “What would you do if I left?” Claud asked; staring at a wall. “Why would you leave?” Mae asked. She took Claud’s hand. “What’s going on?” “I need to find the man,” Claud finally looked at Mae, “ the man from my dreams.” Mae stood up. “He’s not real, Claud,” Mae said, “you can’t find something that doesn’t exist.” Claud looked at her surprised. “He has to be real,” Claud said, “I’ve been dreaming of him all my life; il est la seule chose qui est réel.” “What about me? What about your family?” Mae asked. “I know you will be fine without me,” Claud said. She kissed Mae’s forehead and picked up her bag. She walked to the door but stopped. “Will you love someone new?” She didn’t turn towards Mae. “I don’t want to,” Mae’s eyes teared up, but she shook with fury. “Will you love yourself?” Claud asked, tears streamed down her face. “I don’t know if I can,” Mae said. Claud looked at her. “I know you can,” with that Claud walked out to find the Dream Man. Meeting in Cardiff Claud was not prepared for a big city like Cardiff. Growing up in a small french village had made her accustomed to the quiet life. Claud stepped off the ferry a little scared of all the people. "It's be all right," she told herself. Claud pulls out a map of Cardiff and finds her way to the bay. When she arrives, she buys herself some street food and waits. For two hours Claud paces around the bay. She tries to ignore the empty feeling. The thought that she has not been away from Mae for four years starts in. Eventually she feels ready to give up. Claud gets up to leave but she stops when she notices a man watching her out of the corner of her eye. The man smiles and walks towards her. “When will the Doctor be here?” The man asks; an american. “Um, shit.” Claud forgot what to say. “He’s needed.” The man frowns. “Sorry I mistook you for someone else,” he starts to walk away. Claud strains to remember what she was supposed to say. “Only when he’s needed!” She calls after the man. He stops. Claud runs to catch up with him. “Come with me,” he says, grabbing her by the hand. She lets him guide her to a small building. Inside there is a single room with a desk. Behind the desk was Gwen Cooper. “Nice to see you, Claudette,” Gwen greets. Claud is stunned for a second. “I...I never told you my name,” Claud says. ‘We look into everyone who mentions the blue box,” the man says. “Now come on.” Gwen reaches under the desk and presses a button. A door appears and slides open. Claud follows the man down the stairs. “Putain de merde” Claud says. There is an entire building underneath the bay! She hears large flapping above her; she looks up to see a pterodactyl. “Le bordel?!” “Pardon your french,” a dark man said, another American. “Names Rex.” “I’m Claud,” she replied. “I know,” Rex said. Claud did not really like his attitude. “Rex go get pizza or something,” the other man said. Claud noted that he must be in charge. Rex growled, but left. The man guided Claud to a couch; they sat. “Now I have a few questions, if you don’t mind, Ms. Torrance-Leroy,” the man said. “It’s just Torrance now, but I prefer Claud,” Claud corrected, “and I have my own questions.” “Alright, I suppose that’s fair,” The man said. “A question for a question.” “Who are you?” Claud asks. “Captain Jack Harkness,” the man said. He smiled at the title of Captain. Claud thought he was a little cocky. “I guess that explains your clothes,” Claud said. “What is this place?” “It’s my turn, Claudette,” Jack said. “How do you know about the Doctor?” “I don’t know anything about a doctor,” Claud answered. “Right, sorry,” Jack said. “How do you know about the blue box?” “I’ve been dreaming about it,” Claud answers. Jack seems interested in that. “How long?” he asks. “It’s my turn, remember,” Claud teases. “Now, what is this place?” “Torchwood, the fourth I believe,” Jack replies. “How long?” “I don’t know since I was six,” Claud says. “Alright, and you’re twenty-two now, so sixteen years, Jesus!” Jack is totally astounded. “What is Torchwood?” Claud ignores the fact that Jack knows her age. “We are Earth’s protection from aliens,” Jack says, “well when the Doctor isn’t around. What do you know about the Doctor?” “I already told you I don’t know anything about a doctor,” Claud snaps. “Sorry. You seem to already know plenty about this doctor, why don’t you tell me?” “One can’t really explain him simply,” Jack says, “He’s the oncoming storm, John Smith, Earth’s Protector, Raggedy Doctor, the list goes on and on. But when someone starts dreaming about him it means something.” “So I’m not crazy?” Claud laughed. “I’ve been committed for it before.” “No, Claud, you’re not crazy,” Jack says, he brushes hair from her face. “You are very very special.” Claud hugs Jack; tears slide down her face. Gwen appears. “Hey, just letting you know I’m going out,” Claud and Jack pull away. Gwen squints at Jack. “Behave, Jack.” She leaves. Claud sniffles and laughs at the awkward tension. “Merde, I’m such a mess,” she says. Jack smiles gently and brushes the tears from her cheeks. “No you’re not,” he says. “Are we done with the interrogation?” Claud jokes, but inside she feels her stomach churn. “One last questions,” Jack says, “what happened to Leroy?” “She is happier without me,” Claud says. Jack leans toward Claud. “No one could be happier without you,” He said. Claud felt herself pull towards him. Their lips met and Claud’s body felt alive. Claudette felt warm and bubbly, kind of like champagne but better. Jack drew circles with his finger on her bare skin. “Tu ne avez pas ete avec un homme dans un moment,” Jack whispers to her. “You know French?” Claud lays on his chest. “Of course,” he laughs. “How else could I research you?” “Ew, that’s not the best bed talk, Jack,” Claud teases; though technically they are on the couch. “Desole,” Jack said, “you pick a better subject.” Claud closes her eyes as Jack runs his fingers through her hair. “Who do you love?” Claud asks finally. Jack thinks for a second. “It depends,” he says. “On what?” “The day, the moment, the way the wind blows,” Jack says. “Then who do you love now?” Claud asks. Jack looks her in the eyes; he kisses her, pressing her close. “Who do you love, Claudy?” Jack asks when they pull apart. “Sometimes it’s her, sometimes it’s him, sometimes it’s me, and sometimes it’s no one,” she answers. “And you do you love now?” Jack kisses her neck. Claud loves the sensation. “You,” she whispers. Suddenly, Rex walks in. “What the hell are you doing?!” He growls. “This is the work place. Do you have no sense of professionalism, Jack?” Jack laughs and sits up. Claud wraps Jack’s shirt around herself. “I thought I told you to go home, Rex,” Jack says. “No, you told me to go get a pizza, and I did; it was fucking delicious too, but now I think it might make a reappearance.” Rex says, disgusted. “Americains sont bizarre,” Claud laughs. She hands Jack his pants, but keeps his shirt on. “Do not worry, mon amour, we need to get to work anyways,” Jack says. “Locating the Doctor is not an easy task.” Claud laid her head on the desk. “Nous avons ete a ce pendant des heures,” she groaned. “He lives in a phone box for fucks sake; can’t you call him” Jack laughed. “Sorry, hun, I lost his number a long time ago,” he said. The two sat at a desk with a large monitor in front of them. “Hopefully, he is on Earth somewhere. If so the computer will find him.” “If he’s some big Earth protector then why don’t we look for disasters?” Claud says. “We would but there aren’t any,” Jack says, “At least not the kind the Doctor deals with. He’s probably at a museum or concert.” “Oh, a cultured man,” Claud smiles, “the best kind.” “I could teach you a thing or two about culture, Claudy,” Jack answers; patting her leg. “I’ll have to take you up on that someday,” Claud giggles. Rex moans; reminding everyone that he is still in the room. “You’re worse than rabbits,” Rex mumbles. “Sauter sur,” Claud mocked. Suddenly the computer chimbed. Everyone turned their attention back to the screen. “There he is,” Jack smiled. Claud starred in awe at the man she had dreamed of for sixteen years, who had not aged a day, eating a pizza. “Where is he?” she asked. Her eyes focused on the screen. “Innsbruck, Austria,” Jack stated. Claud jumped out of her chair and ran for the door. “Wait!” Jack ran after her. “You can’t just go running after him!” Claud was already gone. Witch is Witch? Claudette hopped on the nearest train and headed for Austria. The entire way she could hardly sit still. She was about to meet the man of her dreams; this doctor. Claud had a million questions. How did he get in her dreams? What’s his name? Doctor of what? Why was he eating a pizza in Austria? What the hell was she going to do when she finally meets him? That was the question that stopped her for a second. Claud does not even know this man, yet she feels she could trust him with her life. After what felt like an eternity, the train stopped in Innsbruck. Claud got off and headed quickly to the address of the pizza place. When she got there she found it filled with people; none of them were this doctor. Claud’s phone rang .“Hello?” she answered. “Did you really think he would still be there?” Jack said on the other end. “I didn’t really think this through,” Claud replied. “Obviously,” Jack laughed. “Come back to HQ, we can wait for him to pop up again.” “Actually, I think I will stay here,” Claud answer. “Call me if you get anything.” It had been two weeks since Claud had last talked to Jack. She had rented a little flat and made a little money playing the piano in a pub near by. Claud spent her days drinking tea, and writing. She tried not to think about Mae but had already written seventeen poems about her. She found safety in a strict routine. Saturday (Claud considered this the first day of the week.) was market day, Sunday was laundry day, Monday Claud got drunker than one should, Tuesday she slept it off, Wednesday she wrote until she fell asleep at her desk, Thursday she worked the pub, Friday she laid in bed unable to think of a reason to get up, then back to Saturday to start again. On one Sunday, Claud gathered her five shirts, three black skinny jeans, and odd bits to take to the laundry room in the basement of her flat building. Claud was not talented at things like cleaning, but she did it out of necessity. All of her socks have lost their whiteness to her not so diligent hand. In the basement, Claud stuck headphones in her ears and filled the washing machine. “You need to turn your shirts inside out,” someone said behind Claud. Claud took out her headphones. “What?” Claud asked, turning. A small girl, practically swallowed by her black ensemble smiled sweetly at Claud. “They’ll fade if you don’t turn them inside out,” the girl repeated. “Oh, uh, thanks,” Claud said. She flipped the shirts. “I’m not very good at, well, housework.” Claud laughed sheepishly. “I can tell,” the girl picked up Claud’s pink sock. “Here let me help you,” the girl started sorting Claud’s clothes before she could protest. “I’m Rhode, by the way,” “Oh, I’m Claud,” Claud stuttered. “You don’t need to help me.” “I like to,” Rhode said. The two girls finished loading the machine. “Why don’t you come over to my flat and have some tea and biscuits?” “I don’t want to leave my clothes. I might forget them,” Claud said. “Don’t worry you can hear the buzzer from my flat,” Rhode replied. “I’m just across the hall.” Rhode’s flat was filled with plants, and though it was underground it seemed filled with light. Rhode went around a corner into her kitchen. “Earl Grey, or Jasmine?” she asked Claud. “Earl Grey is fine,” Claud answered. “I love your flat. It’s a lot more homey than mine.” Claud thought of her bare minimum furniture; she had not even bought a sink yet. “Thanks,” Rhode reentered the room Claud was in. “I really love plants, they are great for spells.” “Uh, spells?” Claud asked. “Yeah, I’m a witch, so I do a lot of spells,” Rhode stated. “Are you okay with witches? You aren’t a bible thumping Christian are you?” “No, I don’t have a problem with it,” Claud answered. “I’m not religious, actually. I didn’t know witches were real.” “Well, most of us don’t wear pointy hats or go around hexing people,” Rhode laughed. “We’re just people.” The kettle whistled in the kitchen. After tea, the buzzer rang on the washing machine. “I had better go get those,” Claud said, standing up to leave. “Oh, wait,” Rhode got up, “I want you to have this.” Rhode handed Claud a small cactus. “It reminds me of you.” “A prick?” Claud raised an eyebrow. Rhode laughed. “No,” she said. “You put up a barrier, just like the cactus, so that no one can really get close to you.” Claud smiled a little. Did she really do that? “Um, thanks,” she said. She headed for the door. “If you ever get curious about witchcraft my coven meets on Thursdays,” Rhode said. Claude nodded, smiled, then left. Another week went by, then another. After a month, Claude was sick of her morbid routine and lack of progress in finding the Doctor. On Thursday, she decided to pay a visit to Rhode. "Claude! I had a feeling you might be joining us tonight," Rhode greeted, cheerfully. "Was it a witchy inclination?" Claude asked. She still had no idea how this stuff worked or if she even believed in it. Rhode laughed. Claude liked her laugh; it was bright and bouncy. "No, silly girl," Rhode giggled, "You didn't do your laundry this week." Claude laughed she was right; Claude had been wearing the same shirt for three days. "Come on in, Claude, I want you to meet the girls." Category:Series